Hallowed Ground: Spring 2013

Featured Online Articles

This quarterly issue of the Civil War Trust's membership magazine focuses on Chancellorsville for the 150th anniversary, with articles by historians John Hennessey and Zachary Cowsert.
To see all online articles from past issues of the membership magazine, visit the Back Issue Index »

John Hennessey

On May 1, 1863, on often-overlooked lands east of Chancellorsville, the Civil War changed momentum, commencing a bloody tide of events that would climax two months hence at Gettysburg.Read the article »

Zachary Cowsert

Looking back 150 years later, it is easy to predict the success the Confederates would enjoy at Chancellorsville, easy to envision the triumph that would reward their daring Flank Attack plan. This hindsight often causes us to overlook the magnitude of the gamble Lee and Jackson were taking. Read the article »

“Chancellorsville” may sound like a town, or at least a small hamlet, but it is actually the name of a single structure. By 1863 "Chancellorsville" had stood beside the Orange Turnpike for a half-century, serving as a roadside inn and tavern, then as an oversized private residence.Read the article »

Few Civil War sites evoke such indelible mental images as the Wilderness. Despite covering only about 70 square miles and offering remarkably poor visibility and maneuverability, it was the setting for two of the Civil War’s largest and most iconic battles — Chancellorsville in 1863 and the Wilderness in 1864.Read the article »

Gen. Thomas J. Jackson’s story did not end at Chancellorsville, and the string of monuments and markers dedicated to his wounding, amputation and death can make it difficult to sift through the chain of events caused by Jackson’s injury and the multiple locations where Jackson came to rest.Read the article »

Page From the Past

Today, the Civil War Trust’s 214-acre First Day at Chancellorsville property — complete with walking trails and interpretive signage explaining the significance of fighting there on May 1, 1863 — is one of the organization’s greatest successes, a triumph of public-private partnerships and the search for win-win solutions. But, just over a decade ago, the situation for this incredible piece of hallowed ground looked remarkably different and grim.Read the article »